Massachusetts Child Support Guide 2026: How the 2025 Guidelines Calculate Your Amount

Massachusetts parents usually want one number: what will the court order each week? The answer comes from a single statewide form, the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet (CJD 304), driven by the 2025 Child Support Guidelines. This guide explains how that worksheet turns two incomes into a weekly order. Run your own figures in the free Massachusetts child support calculator.

How is child support calculated in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts uses the CJD 304 worksheet: each parent’s gross weekly income is adjusted into available income, Table A converts their combined income into a one-child support amount, Table B scales it for the number of children, and the paying parent owes their income share, adjusted for child care and parenting arrangement.

The calculation is an income-shares model: it prices the children’s needs at the parents’ combined level, then divides the cost in proportion to income. In shared and split parenting cases the worksheet runs the whole calculation for both parents and nets the difference, which is why Massachusetts results are always set as a weekly amount rather than a monthly one.

What is Table A in the 2025 Massachusetts child support guidelines?

Table A is the worksheet’s obligation schedule: eight marginal brackets that turn combined available income into the weekly support amount for one child, starting at 22 percent of income between $392 and $1,000 a week and stepping down to 10 percent above $5,000, up to the $8,654 weekly cap.

Each bracket has a base amount plus a percentage of income above the bracket floor: $220 plus 21 percent above $1,000, $346 plus 18 percent above $1,600, $490 plus 14 percent above $2,400, $644 plus 11 percent above $3,500, and $809 plus 10 percent above $5,000. The first two rows are special — they cap the order for a payor whose own income is very low, as explained below.

What changed in the 2025 Massachusetts child support guidelines?

The 2025 guidelines, effective December 1, 2025, raised the combined income cap from $400,000 to $450,000 a year, lifted the child care benchmark from $355 to $430 per week per child, raised the low-income thresholds to $301 and $391 a week, and reworked every percentage in Table A.

The guidelines are reviewed every four years, as federal law requires. Orders entered on or after December 1, 2025 use the 2025 version, and an existing order that no longer matches the guidelines can be a basis for modification. The 2025 review also widened the definition of income to cover digital assets and non-traditional compensation, and clarified that a child who is 18 but still in high school is treated as under 18.

Does Massachusetts use gross or net income for child support?

Massachusetts starts with gross weekly income from all sources, then subtracts only three things to reach available income: other support obligations actually paid, health care premiums paid, and dental and vision insurance paid. Unlike many states, the worksheet deducts no taxes or FICA at all when it calculates support.

One addition runs the other way: Social Security dependency benefits a child receives because of a parent’s retirement or disability are added as income for that parent (worksheet Line 2c), even if the check is sent to the other parent. Means-tested benefits such as SSI and SNAP do not count as income, and a parent’s income can be attributed if the court finds voluntary unemployment or underemployment.

How does shared custody affect Massachusetts child support?

Shared custody does not erase support. Under the worksheet’s Box 1, the full calculation runs for both parents as if each were the recipient, and the two results are netted, so the higher-earning parent normally pays the difference. Massachusetts has no overnight-count formula; parenting time enters only through the worksheet’s three boxes.

Box 2 covers children primarily residing with one parent about two-thirds of the time, Box 1 covers roughly equal time with shared financial responsibility, and Box 3 covers split residence, where each parent is the primary home for at least one child. Parenting time that falls between the boxes — more than a third but less than half with the non-primary parent, for example — is not priced by the formula at all; the guidelines leave it to the court as a deviation.

How are child care costs treated in Massachusetts child support?

Work-related child care is shared in proportion to income, not deducted from it. Costs count up to a benchmark of $430 per week per child under the 2025 guidelines; if the parents together pay more for one child, each parent’s payment is scaled down in proportion so only $430 counts.

Only reasonable out-of-pocket costs that allow a parent to work, or to attend education or job training reasonably necessary for work, qualify — amounts paid by third parties do not. The counted cost enters the order through Section 6 of the worksheet: the counted amount for each parent is multiplied by the other parent’s income share, so the paying parent effectively reimburses their share of the care the receiving side arranges, and vice versa.

What is the minimum child support in Massachusetts?

For very low incomes the guidelines cap the order instead of using the full formula: a payor earning $301 a week or less should owe no more than $15 a week, and a payor earning $302 to $391 a week should owe no more than $33 a week.

Those thresholds are 100 percent and 130 percent of the 2025 federal poverty guideline for a household of one. The same shaded-area amounts are reused inside the worksheet whenever a low-income payor’s share is computed (Lines 5c, 6e and 7b), and a court can always deviate from them — including down to a $0 order — where the circumstances warrant it.

What happens when combined income is over $450,000 in Massachusetts?

The worksheet calculates support only on the first $450,000 of combined available income — $8,654 a week — and that amount is the minimum presumptive order. Support on income above the cap is entirely up to the court, and any percentage the court applies to the excess must be below 10 percent.

Section 8 of the worksheet still reports the excess and splits it between the parents by income share, so the judge can see each parent’s portion of the income above the cap. In deciding whether to add support on the excess, the court is told to account for the number and ages of the children, among the other deviation factors.

What is the 40 percent hardship rule in Massachusetts child support?

If the guideline order would take 40 percent or more of the paying parent’s available income, the 2025 guidelines presume a substantial hardship that justifies a lower deviated order. The worksheet flags these cases automatically, but the presumption is rebuttable: a court can still order the full amount with written findings.

The rule, new in Section IV.C, matters most where the increased child care benchmark pushes an order up against a modest payor income — the situation the 2025 Task Force said it was designed for. A deviation, up or down, is recorded with findings on the CJ-D 305 form.

How long does child support last in Massachusetts?

Support generally runs until a child turns 18, but a court may extend it to age 23 for a child who lives with a parent and is principally dependent on them, including a full-time student. Amounts for children 18 and older are discretionary and reduced under the worksheet’s Table C.

Table C cuts the combined support amount by 25 percent when all the children are 18 or older, and by 1 to 14 percent for mixed families, depending on how many children fall on each side of 18. A court may also order contributions to college costs on top of, or instead of, support for an older child — capped, absent special findings, at 50 percent of the cost of attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst as an in-state undergraduate.

How can you estimate your own Massachusetts child support?

Use both parents’ gross weekly incomes, your parenting arrangement, each child’s age group, any health premiums or other support either parent pays, and your weekly child care costs, and run the free Massachusetts child support calculator, which follows the CJD 304 worksheet line by line through Tables A, B and C.

See also our Massachusetts income tax calculator and the paycheck calculator if you need to convert a salary or a paycheck into the weekly gross figure the worksheet asks for.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the 2025 Massachusetts guidelines take effect?

December 1, 2025. They apply to every child support order and judgment entered on or after that date. Orders entered earlier were calculated under the 2021 guidelines (as amended in 2023), which used a $400,000 income cap and a $355 child care benchmark.

Can a Massachusetts court order more or less than the worksheet amount?

Yes. The worksheet amount is presumed correct, but the judge may deviate where it would be inappropriate — for example because parenting time does not fit the worksheet’s boxes, a child has extraordinary needs or expenses, or the order triggers the 40 percent hardship presumption. Deviations must be supported by written findings.

Is child support taxable in Massachusetts?

No. Child support is not taxable income for the parent who receives it, and the parent who pays it cannot deduct it on their tax return, for either federal or Massachusetts taxes. This treatment differs from some other family payments, so keep support payments clearly documented and separate from any alimony arrangement.

Can a Massachusetts child support order be modified?

Yes. Either parent can seek a modification, and the fact that a current order is simply inconsistent with the current guidelines is itself a basis for modifying it — which is why the December 1, 2025 change to the 2025 guidelines matters for older orders.

Who pays child support if both parents earn the same?

It depends on the parenting box. With primary residence (Box 2), the non-primary parent still pays their 50 percent share — the primary parent’s share is treated as spent directly on the children. With shared time (Box 1) and exactly equal incomes, the cross-calculation nets to about $0, though the court can still allocate expenses separately.

Disclaimer: This guide is general information and an estimate only — not legal advice. Support orders are set by the court under the Massachusetts 2025 Child Support Guidelines and may differ from any estimate here. For advice about your case, consult a Massachusetts family law attorney.